Frequently Asked Questions

Call us at (415) 285-1353 and say you’d like help. Whoever answers will take a little information and walk you through what comes next. You can also fill out the form on our Get Help page and we’ll reach out to you.

You don’t need a referral, insurance, or any paperwork to make that call. You don’t need to have the words ready, either.

An interview is our proper protocol, and it’s a conversation rather than a test. Call us and we’ll set one up.

That said — if you’re in real trouble right now, call anyway. Getting the order of things exactly right matters less to us than getting you here.

Often one of our leaders — men further along in the program who help those just beginning. They have been where you are. They won’t ask you to explain yourself.

There’s no waiting list at the moment. Availability still changes, so the honest answer is the one we can give you on the phone today — please call and ask.

You’ll need to be 18 or older. The men with us right now are between 19 and 65.

No. Men come to us from all over — we’ve had men arrive from New Mexico, from Florida, and one from India. If you can get here, call us.

No. We walk with men facing addiction and other life-controlling habits — the patterns that have taken hold and won’t let go on their own. If you’re not sure whether what you’re facing counts, it counts. Call and tell us about it.

Yes. Spanish is spoken here, and there are Spanish-speaking men in the program. When you call, just ask for someone who speaks Spanish.

No — our program is for men, and we don’t have a women’s home.

There are Teen Challenge centers elsewhere that serve women and families, and that’s the direction we’d point you. We’re sorry we can’t do more than that.

Yes. Rescuing men from prison is part of who we are. Men come to us instead of serving time, and we work with courts and probation officers all the time.

The cleanest path is through your probation or parole officer — have them call us. If you’re on parole especially, we’d rather everything be done properly from the start than have to untangle it later.

Two things we’re not able to accept: we cannot take men with pedophilia or arson charges. Anything else, please ask.

It happens all the time. We’re regularly used as a court-approved residential alternative to incarceration, and we’re glad to be — a year here changes more than a year inside.

Call (415) 285-1353 and ask for our intake coordinator. He handles placements and can tell you quickly whether we’re the right fit for your client.

Nothing. We don’t charge for the program, we won’t bill you, and we won’t ask you for money. Our services are offered at no cost to the individual, and they always will be.

That’s possible because donors, churches, and volunteers carry the cost on your behalf. Someone you’ll probably never meet has already paid for your bed.

What we do ask is that you work alongside us. This is a work-based program, and the work is part of the healing.

Men here work on CalTrans freeway crews, on construction jobs, in the kitchen, in marketing, and for churches around the city. Neighbours and businesses can hire our crews too — landscaping and yard work, painting and light construction, cleaning and building maintenance, moving and haulage, security detail.

The work helps keep the program self-sustaining. But that isn’t why you’ll be doing it. We believe work is good for a man. The first thing God does in Genesis is work, and something quietly changes in a man who has been told he is useless for a long time when he finishes an honest day.

Then you’ll do work that suits you. We make exceptions all the time. A man in his sixties might take care of everyone’s laundry rather than head out with a chainsaw. Someone with a bad back works where his back isn’t the trouble.

Everyone works, and the work is matched to what you’re able to do. Please don’t count yourself out before you call.

No insurance, no Medi-Cal, no billing of any kind. We’re supported by donors rather than fees. You’re welcome to see exactly where that support goes on our financial transparency page.

It means we don’t treat only the addiction. We try to care for the whole man — body, mind, and spirit — the way Jesus did with the people he met.

In practice that looks like a year of living in community: study and classes, honest work, meals and worship together, and men a little further along walking with men who have just arrived. Over time, the men who were helped become the ones helping. That’s really all discipleship means.

Men who went through it. Our Men’s Center director, Stephen Asmus, is a graduate of this program. So is Tyler Poole, who leads Moses House.

That isn’t sentiment. Nobody can tell you the first month is survivable like a man who survived it. When you arrive, the people asking how you’re doing have sat where you’re sitting.

Twelve months. And if you’d like it to, it can go further:

• 12 months — the program itself.
• 18 months — for men who’d like to stay on as interns and help lead.
• Moses House — our vocational and transitional housing in the Bayview, opened in 2024. Graduates hold down jobs, build savings, pay rent, and stay as long as they need while getting ready to live independently.

Nobody is handed a bus ticket at the end of the twelfth month. There’s a next step, and another one after that.

Mostly rest. Most men arrive worn down and coming off something, so the first week is for sleeping, eating, and being somewhere safe. Work comes afterward — for some men, a few weeks afterward. There’s no hurry.

One thing we want to be honest about: we are not a medical detox, and there is no clinical or medical supervision here. If you need medical care to come off what you’re using, please tell us when you call and we’ll talk it through with you honestly.

Structured, and that structure is much of the point. For a lot of men it’s the first predictable week they’ve had in years.

Around all of that runs the rest of it: personal and biblical study, shared chores and cooking, and sitting down honestly with other men. That last one is usually the hardest part, and the part that changes people.

Our Men’s Center is at 1464 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, in the Outer Mission. It has been serving the Bay Area since 1964.

Moses House, our vocational and transitional housing for graduates, is at 1469 Oakdale Avenue in the Bayview.

We’re in the middle of the city on purpose. The men we’re here for are here.

Tell us when you call. Bring what you’re taking with you, and please don’t stop anything on your own before you arrive.

Men come to us on all sorts of things — suboxone, nicotine patches, psychiatric medication. Nobody is taken off anything abruptly, and we don’t make those decisions by ourselves. We work with your doctor, and if you don’t have one we’ll help you find one, so that any tapering happens carefully and properly.

We’ll be straight with you about the direction: the expectation is that by around three months in, men are off everything. It’s handled case by case, at whatever pace is right and safe for you.

While you’re here, medication is kept in a safe and every dose is logged. We take that part very seriously.

We’re not a medical provider. If there’s something you genuinely need to stay on, say so early and honestly, and we’ll talk it through together.

Bring whatever you have. If you have nothing, come anyway — that’s a common way to arrive here, and it isn’t a problem.

You’ll be given meals, a bed, and a locker of your own. We keep a blessings closet stocked with clothing and hygiene items, so if you arrive in what you’re wearing, you’ll be looked after.

Yes, bring a suitcase — and yes, we’ll look through it when you arrive. It isn’t about you, and it isn’t about trust. It’s how we keep the house safe for every man in it, yourself included.

Electronics, cigarettes, and credit or debit cards aren’t kept with you during the program. We’ll store them safely rather than ask you to give them up.

We know that sounds strict. The reason is a gentle one: the things that tie you to the life you’re leaving are usually the things that pull hardest in the first months.

Please call us at (415) 285-1353. You’re welcome to call on his behalf and ask anything at all before he’s ready. Most families do.

One thing worth saying honestly: he has to want to come. We can talk with you about how families get to that point — we’ve walked alongside many who have, and we’d be glad to walk with you.

Visits usually begin after the first 30 days, once the hardest part is behind him. That early stretch is for settling, and a little distance from everything familiar is part of how it works.

If he needs something before then — clothes, medication, anything necessary — please call us. We can arrange a supervised exception. We’re not trying to keep you apart.

We’re careful with the men’s personal information, so we don’t discuss details over the phone. What we can do is talk with you about the program, what to expect, and how to walk with him well. And we’d be glad to pray with you.

No. Nobody is turned away for lack of faith. You don’t have to believe anything, or in anyone.

We’re a Christian discipleship program and we won’t be quiet about that — faith is part of daily life here, woven through the whole year. But you don’t need to arrive with any of your own. Men come here believing all kinds of things, and plenty believing nothing at all. Come as you are.

No — they’re two separate organizations at two separate addresses. The program is at 1464 Valencia Street. Sunset Bible Assembly of God is at 1690 21st Avenue.

The way we say it here: the program is where men come in off the street, and the church is where they come to faith.

Our legal name is Greater San Francisco Teen Challenge Inc., and we’re part of the Adult & Teen Challenge network — but this program is for adults, 18 and older. The “Teen” in our name is history rather than who we serve.

Each Adult & Teen Challenge center is independently operated. We run this one, and what’s given to us stays here.